The Role Mrs Danvers Plays in REBECCA
The Role Mrs Danvers Plays in REBECCA
The Role Mrs Danvers Plays in REBECCA
Mrs Danvers is related to almost every character in this novel in one way or the other. The first
closest relation we can think of is probably her relation to the nameless heroine of the story. To
the protagonist, Mrs Danvers plays the role of the “Judging eye”.
From the moment the new mistress of the house steps into Manderley, the housekeeper is
always regarding her with a judging and comparing attitude. (“But I never dared ask Mrs
Danvers what she did about it. She would have looked at me in scorn, smiling that freezing,
superior smile of hers, and I can imagine her saying: “There were never any complaints when
Mrs. de Winter was alive.””) This was due to the fact that the narrator took the place of
Rebecca, the late Mrs De Winter, her late mistress. She devoted her whole self to a woman who
is dead, hanging on dearly to the last wisps of phantom-like memories of a woman who might
have never cared about a lowly housekeeper like her at all. This “obsession” led to utter hatred
towards a woman who “stole” Rebecca’s place, especially when that person is not as elegant in
daily life, as confident, or as well-humoured or outgoing. Therefore, she regards the narrator as
a copycat failing miserably, and tries to humiliate her and put her ill at ease all the time. (“Why
should you hate me?” I asked; “what have I ever done to you that you should hate me?”
Mrs Danvers also plays a huge role in creating suspense. She is one of the main characters
involved in creating conflict in the story. In Wikipedia, she is described as “the main antagonist
of Daphne du Maurier's 1938 novel Rebecca.” She is described as the “antagonist”, suggesting
that she is the “creator of obstacles” for the protagonists. And we can see it demonstrated in
the part where she persuades the heroine to dress as Rebecca once did, with the intention
of humiliating her. This trick almost caused the relationship between the narrator and Maxim
to break. She is one of the main creators of horror, too. Every time she talks to the narrator